Yo Quiero Pompano

In the past I have expressed my disdain for the Mexican food (especially burritos) in New York. But, thanks to a suggestion from a friend and fellow blogger, I have found a place that may have completely changed my opinion for good. Pompano Taqueria is the off-shoot of Pompano, a high-end Mexican restaurant run by Chef Richard Sandoval. This taco is truly a hidden gem, unless you are fortunate enough to work in the building in which it is located.

Pompano Taqueria has a small, but impressive, menu that features flavor combinations that are available on tacos, quesadillas, tortas, or burritos. I had to go with the namesake items and ordered two tacos: one Alambre with grilled chicken and one Pescado. I also made it a combo, which, for $2.50 more, gives you rice and beans, a soda, and a bag of homemade tortilla chips. But, here’s a Miss Menu tip: If you order two tacos (or more), it automatically comes with chips.

But, back to the heavenly tacos. The Alambre consisted of perfectly grilled chicken with poblano rajas (grilled peppers) and melted manchego cheese served in a flour tortilla. I have only recently begun to truly appreciate the goodness that is manchego cheese. And now that I have seen the light, I can’t get enough of it. This may have easily been the best taco I’ve ever had, and without a doubt the best one I’ve ever had in NYC. I seriously didn’t want to finish the last bite!

The Pescado featured sautéed king fish with napa cabbage and a chipotle sauce in a flour tortilla. The king fish was really tender and not fishy at all. The cabbage gave it a great crunch, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the chipotle sauce. I know chipotle is suppose to be smoky, but this was a little too much. If you are a chipotle flavor fan, then I’m sure you’ll love this taco though.

Now, for the extras. The authentic chips were fantastic and not greasy at all. They definitely were good enough to eat on their own, but tasted even better with the salsas. There was a salsa/toppings bar next to the cash register that features 3 salsas, a pica de gallo, chopped red onions, and cilantro. I tried the roasted tomato and the tomatillo salsas, both of which were very flavorful. I didn’t even want to put them on the tacos because the flavors were so good on their own. The rice and beans were pretty disappointing. The rice was on the bland side and the beans tasted straight out of the can. I ended up pouring some of the roasted tomato salsa on them to give it a boost. It helped a little, but I would have rather had another taco than fill up on the rice and beans.

Another Miss Menu tip: If you call ahead, you can skip the line and walk right up to the front to pick up your order. If you work in Midtown West, this makes it even more reason to make the trek to 3rd Avenue during your lunch hour! The line to order doesn’t take long, but there can be a decent wait to pick up your food. I waited about 10 minutes. At least you can be sure that the tacos aren’t pre-made and sitting under a heat lamp!

All in all, this was one of the best Midtown lunches I’ve had, without a doubt. The food was delicious, and you could taste how fresh the quality ingredients were. Pompano Taqueria is seriously unlike anything else available in the area and a true culinary treat. I’m already planning my next taco outing!

Pompano Taqueria
Pavillion Food Court - Lower Level
805 Third avenue
b/t 49th & 50th Street
website

The Kitschy Cowgirl

I'm not sure what it is about Southern/BBQ restaurants that make the owners feel the need to decorate it in the most over-the-top manner. They try to cover every square inch of wall space with every country/western knick knack known to man. Of course there are exceptions to this rule (the more classy joints), but Cowgirl fits right in with the "chotchkies galore" mentality when it comes to its decor.

Old highway signs, gun racks, and cowboy hats decorate the space and the wooden booths make you feel like you're in a western saloon. If I hadn't been to Cowgirl before, I would have been convinced that this place was a complete tourist trap. My co-workers and I went there for dinner before another colleague's performance a few blocks away. I quickly reassured them that it was a fun, neighborhood restaurant and we'd have a great meal.

Just as soon as we were seated and our drink orders were taken, chips and black-eyed pea salsa was brought to our table. As weird as we all thought it looked at first glance, this salsa was absolutely delicious. I didn't want to fill up on the chips and salsa too much, but luckily the little bowl went quickly among the four of us.

There were so many dishes that really caught my eye on the menu...I knew it was going to be a tough choice! Cowgirl was too unique to order any of the typical items like fajitas or a bbq chicken sandwich, so it was easy to eliminate those. Then, something stood out to me and I knew I had to order it...a Frito pie. Most of you from above the Mason-Dixon line probably have no clue what a Frito pie is. Imagine Frito chips (you know, those salty, greasy, corn chips) covered in chili and all the fixin's.

Cowgirl took it to the next level, further convincing me they have some creative chefs in that kitchen! Not only was the veggie chili (there is also the choice of beef brisket) served on top of the Fritos, but the entire dish was served IN a Fritos bag!!



The Fritos got soggy pretty quickly under the heat of the chili, but the first few bites had a great crunch. The chili itself was delicious...a little sweet, a little spicy, and had a lot of beans and veggies in it. The whole thing was topped with shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped onions, and jalapenos. It seemed like a small portion at first, but was definitely very hearty.

So far, so good. To add to the great experience, if you order the 32oz fountain drinks, there are free refills...and you know how I feel about that! Granted most people cannot consume 64 ounces of soda in one sitting, but then again, who ever claimed Miss Menu was "most people?!" My co-workers really enjoyed their meals too. Two got the Cowtown Quesadillas with pulled chicken and another got Papa Joel's Pulled Pork sandwich. They also liked the frozen margaritas, one was mango flavor and the other was made with Jameson instead of tequila.

If you're looking for a cute (if not slightly over-decorated!) place with a lively atmosphere, great bar scene and happy hour, and some good ol' down-home cooking, Cowgirl is the place for you. Happy eatin', y'all!

Cowgirl
519 Hudson Street
@ West 10th Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Pizza Never Tasted So Good

Once a year, Passover rolls around and I clear all of the off-limits foods out of my kitchen. In past years, I’ve eaten out during the holiday, but just avoided all of the breads/grains/starches that aren’t allowed. This year, I decided to test myself and take it to the next level…not eating out at all. As Miss Menu, this was definitely a huge challenge! I usually go out to dinner at least 3 times a week, and pick up lunch during work a few times too. But, I figured that it would allow me to truly appreciate the Passover story and traditions, not to mention serve as the perfect way to go easy on my wallet and my diet for 8 days.

I tried to spread out my postings so Miss Menu wouldn’t go dark for 8 days. So, while it looked like I was enjoying dinners out, that was hardly the case. It was so hard packing my lunch and eating at home for all that time! So, it is safe to say that my first meal out again to “break” Passover was even more of treat than I would have thought! Along with all the holiday traditions and meals, my family started its own tradition of breaking Passover by binging on pizza every year. And this year, although I wasn’t with my family, I still kept the tradition alive….this time with some friends. I knew exactly where I wanted to go – my favorite neighborhood pizza place that I have ordered from numerous times, but have only dined at one time (also to break Passover 2 years ago).

Libretto’s is a family-owned pizzeria that sells slices out of the front and has a sit-down Italian restaurant in the back. There is always a great debate as to what makes a great pizza, especially in New York. I have my favorites for the authentic, brick oven pizzas (like Grimaldi’s), but when it comes to the more general New York-style pizza, Libretto’s tops my list.

Walking in, I already knew exactly what I wanted…plain cheese, and a lot of it. We decided to order one plain pie and one pepperoni pie. After we ordered, we got worried that we had way too much food coming. 16 slices for 3 people. I am proud (and slightly embarrassed!) to say that we finished all of it. I accounted for 4 1/2 pieces…a new personal record! But, after basically doing the South Beach diet for 8 days and losing 8 pounds, I felt like an absurd amount of pizza was more than justified. Maybe I should start marketing the “Passover diet!”

Back to the good stuff…
While I can’t speak to the pepperoni, the plain pizza was delicious, and even better than when it’s delivered since it’s straight out of the oven. I will note that their delivery comes very quickly. The crust was cooked perfectly leaving it a little bit doughy. The sauce and cheese both had such great flavors. All together…a perfect pie.

Another factor that scored major bonus points for me was fountain soda with free refills. In NYC, free refills are very hard to come by. There is nothing worse than getting a few refills only to see $12 worth of Diet Coke on your check. I have a minor caffeine/soda addiction, so refills to go along great pizza made me a happy camper.

In addition to regular pizzas with over a dozen topping options, Libretto’s has a huge list of specialty pizzas with really interesting topping/flavor combinations. One that caught my eye for my next visit was the Pizza alla Vodka. Pizza with vodka sauce and fresh mozzarella? What could be bad?! On my first dine-in experience, I had tried the BBQ chicken pizza, which was really good too. They also have antipasti, soups, pastas, heroes, entrees, and desserts. Suffice it to say it’s an impressive menu. I have a feeling, though, that no matter how good the other dishes may be, it would be virtually impossible for me to go to Libretto’s’ without getting pizza. I hope the family would take that as a major compliment!

Libretto's
546 3rd Avenue
b/t 36th & 37th Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Loving/Hating Penelope

While Murray Hill isn’t exactly known for its culinary wonders, it does have its fare share of ethnic restaurants, whether it’s Indian in Curry Hill, Thai, Japanese, and even Turkish. What it does not have much of (at least to my knowledge) is restaurants with comfort food. Enter Penelope – a home-style restaurant/cafe that I have a love/hate feeling towards. I’ll explain.

This neighborhood doesn’t have a ton of great brunch options aside from diners. So, that is part of Penelope’s appeal. It’s a cute country-kitchen atmosphere that offers more creative, country-style takes on traditional brunch items: Nutella French Toast, Pumpkin Waffles, chicken apple sausage, and homemade baked goods like granola, scones, and muffins. Because their food is so tasty and something different than the norm, Penelope attracts a huge crowd for weekend brunch. I went with some family one time and we were told the wait would be about 45 minutes, and it ended up being 1:45. It’s just too much. And, as a result of being slammed for so many hours on end, the service becomes pretty terrible. Clearly, this area is starving for more places like this, but until that happens, it is either miss out on Penelope or put up with an incomprehensible wait and non-existent service.

Another option is to go for dinner, and while you’ll miss out on the delicious breakfast items, you’ll still get the down-home feel and some great comfort food. That’s just what I did with two friends. Even on a Tuesday night, there was still a wait, but this one was much more manageable…only 5 minutes.

The dinner menu runs the gambit from mac & cheese to chicken pot pie to sandwiches served on hand-made organic breads. I had been to Penelope for dinner before and loved two of the sandwiches I had gotten. So, I decided on the Nice Chicken Meatball sandwich. One of my friends was torn between that and the Grilled Three Cheese sandwich, so we decided to go halfsies. Didn’t take much arm-twisting on her part!

The chicken meatball sandwich was phenomenal. It’s served on a hollowed out baguette with melted fontina, tomato and pesto mayo. The chicken meatballs were such a treat since I don’t eat regular meatballs, and were so flavorful. The pesto mayo had such a great taste too and complimented the sandwich perfectly. The grilled cheese was really good too, how can you go wrong?! Only problem was it had gotten a little cold by time it was served, but other wise the three cheeses were a great combo. It normally comes on sourdough, but the waiter was happy to accommodate my friend’s request to have it on 7-grain instead. All of the sandwiches are served with homemade French fries that sprinkled with fresh herbs…so good.

So, now you see why I have a love/hate approach to this place. It’s a really cute restaurant that feels comforting almost all around…to your eyes, to your stomach, and to your wallet. Problem is it doesn’t feel comforting to wait an hour for a table. I definitely recommend trying Penelope, but avoiding it for brunch on the weekends, unless it’s a nice day and you don’t mind standing outside.

Penelope
159 Lexington Avenue
@ 30th Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Everything but the Kitchen Sink - Sinigual

In my 5 years in NYC, I have been less than thrilled with the burrito/Mexican options here. There's a great debate over which is better...Chipotle, Blockheads, Qdoba, Burritoville to name a few. They're all edible, but none of them really do it for me.

A new sign in a storefront caught my eye on my walk home from work tonight. Looks like Sinigual, a restaurant with "contemporary Mexican cuisine," is opening soon in Midtown East. I was excited for the prospect of a new Mexican food option, especially one not far from my apartment.



Much to my dismay, after doing a little research when I got home, I learned that Sinigual is a chain that is under the same ownership as Chevy's. If any of you have been to the Chevy's in Times Square, I need not say more. If you haven't been, take Miss Menu's word for it...DON'T GO! (Quick side story should explain why: I went to Chevy's with some friends a few years ago, and one friend ordered a quesadilla with sour cream on the side. Our food comes, and the waiter sets our meals on the table and hands my friend a side of sour cream. So, she asks where her quesadilla is thinking maybe it was following right behind. And, the waiter says - and I quote - "Oh, no, you just ordered sour cream." Really? Because that's a normal thing to order?!?! Long story short, they got into an argument, the manager came over embarrassed as hell, and ended up comping our entire meal. Again, DON'T GO!)

The photos and descriptions of the dishes on the website look promising though, so I will reserve judgment until I am able to try Sinigual for myself. Has anyone heard anything more about this spot? I'll definitely give you an update once it opens and I check it out.

Sinigual
150 East 42nd Street
Actual location is 3rd Avenue b/t 41st & 42nd Streets
website